August 2008

August 28, 2008

I am sitting in the airport in Las Vegas ($20 poorer I might add!) waiting for the connecting flight to San Diego where we will be selling and teaching at the Scrapbook Expo. I love San Diego, I was here last year working for Scrap Mart and had a blast! This year I plan to go to a baseball game (or 2), spend some time in the fabulous Gas Lamp District and hopefully take some great pictures. The convention center is actually waterfront and our hotel is also a Marina so who knows, maybe a boat ride might work itself into this visit as well! We at Quick Quotes are gearing up for our Private Reserve which is going to be held the last weekend of September in Washington State....we are finalizing all kinds of fun details as it will be here before we know it. Before that fun event though, we will be in Phoenix for the CK Convention, where I am actually going to take a class (from the amazing Cathy Zielskeand I am STOKED!) and then we will also be in Chattanooga for the Great American Scrapbook Expothat is taking place there. On the home front, I was unable to get any scrapping done these last few days which is a bummer, but I am home next week for quite some time so hopefully I will be getting loads done then! The kids are hoping to make it through a full week of school with no missed days. So far so good. Chase tried out for the middle school soccer team and didn't quite make the cut, but I am super proud of her for putting herself out there. She was heart broken, which of course broke my heart even more. I wanted to cry right along with her. It is tough being a parent when your child is hurting (who am I kidding, it's tough anyway!) and there is really nothing that can be done, especially those little disappointments in life that are just a part of growing up! I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend, can you believe it is almost September already?????

August 25, 2008

So it has been a while since I have posted, but here is a quick recap:

School started on Monday the 18:

I left on Tuesday the 19th to spend some extra time in Tulsa to be with friends from Scrap-mart and the kids didn't have school thanks to Tropical Storm Fay. I spent Tuesday through Thursday at the Scrappin Pad in Talehquah OK and it WAS AWESOME!!! I actually got a lot of scrapping done and it was very relaxing. The house sleeps 13 and has a big crop room, a living room, a full kitchen, two full baths and I cannot wait to go back! Then the show was this weekend. We had a great time in Tulsa, the classes were pretty full and it was fun to see familiar faces and meet some new friends. I am very excited to go back in March for a personal visit to the Scrappin Pad and then again for the CK Show. I got home late Sunday afternoon and just rested. The girls missed two days last week since school was canceled. We were lucky and didn't have any damage here, but just a little bit East of us has some serious flooding and damage to homes. It is very sad, and even sadder that there is currently another system on it's way. Today was back to work for the job here in Orlando and the girls were back in school (after being out on Friday). I weighed in today as well and I lost another 6.2 pounds!! I am so super excited! Hoping to get some scrapping done tomorrow, until then.

August 17, 2008

I had a great time in Charlotte this past weekend. The classes were pretty full and the students were AWESOME! I was lucky enough to speak to Stefanie and Lillian who pre purchased our shirts and made some accessories to match...

I love the hair bows and the flip flops they made.....

I also ran into Joy..she also pre purchased a shirt and put her name on the back of it...

My flight home was a little bit delayed and bumpy because of the thunderstorms in the area. I came home to Hurricane warnings...I am supposed to leave for Tulsa on Tuesday, not too sure if that will happen or not. We are in back to school mode here at home getting the girls ready to start tomorrow. I spent the day shopping getting last minute items. I also finally bought myself an I-pod, get it home and it is scratched and already belonged to someone else (with great music taste I might add) however it really made me mad. So I called the store, and they told me to bring it back tomorrow and they would replace it for me. Still a pain though. I was looking forward to setting it all up tonight, now I guess I will have to watch a movie instead. Looking forward to scrapping tomorrow. I also wanted to send a message to Jennifer Easter in Mount Airy NC, I was sad to hear you missed out on classes this weekend for other things....I mean I might have done the same thing if I was in your shoes...maybe.....I think your girlfriends got you some goodies though! Hope you had a RAWKIN GOOD TIME!

August 14, 2008

Headed to CKC Charlotte and looking forward to a weekend of teaching, shopping and visiting with friend (both new and old). I have been very busy with work and family fun these last few days. Friday we left on a road trip and headed to SC to my parents house where we spent the weekend and left to come home on Sunday sans Chase and Rhyan so they could spend some time with their Grandparents.

Notice in both photos each of them has their own Nintendo DS that they are using (I am so jealous, totally want one of my own!) They got them back in May and have been using them on a regular basis (that is when I am not playing with one, totally into Yoshi's Island right now!). So Chuck and I were home for almost three days with the kids and what do we do? We worked, and worked, and worked. Neither one of us could get any time off to do things together or around the house. We did however watch one whole movie uninterupted which is a huge luxury for us. We watched Stop-Loss which was excellent. Totally makes you think about what is really going on with the military action in Iraq and Afghanistan.I had planned on getting some scrapping done, but I didn't have the time or the mojo these last few days. School is getting ready to start here on Monday and there is a lot of last minute preparation going on for that. Last night we went to Chase's 7th grade orientation and to pick up her schedule...the kids get two electives at her school, they list them in order of priority and Chase got her first pick, Chorus. Her second choice was PE which she did not get, as a matter of fact her second elective she received wasn't even one of her choices (how that works I am not sure) so her second elective is Student Assistant. She will be spending one period a day in the office of the school, making copies, running errands etc. Not to sure how I feel about that one, I might have to bring in the mom strong arm on that one. Rhyan's orientation is tonight, which I will miss (I am very sad about this and will be with her in spirit) but Chuck will do a great job I am sure. She did not get the teacher she wanted either, but she isn't unhappy with her teacher either.

So I still haven't replaced my crop-a-dile just yet, not sure what I am waiting for. I did however purchase the new Pink Paisley Pop Fashion line (which you can get here even though it might not be online yet, they have it see here)am so excited to play with it. I think I am going to make a little 6x6 mini album to journal my weight loss journey. That's right, I said it, I put it out there. I started Weight Watchers on Monday and so far so good. I have to say though, I am having a hard time eating all that I am supposed to!

Well, I think I have said enough for this morning, and it is just about time to get on the plane. If you read the blog and will be in Charlotte, please come up and introduce yourself, I'd love to meet you!

August 07, 2008

I had a great day today just being a scrapping fool...you see, not only do I travel and teach on the weekends, but I have a job here in Orlando as well, and so it seems like I am always working. Well, I had the whole day off today so I woke up, walked on our treadmill for 20 minutes and finished some errands and chores and then scrapped...before I share my pages I need to upload some photos from Valley Forge. There were three women in my class who pre purchased their QQ shirts and added their CK Message board names to the backs...here they are

Great Idea ladies and I must say they looked great too....

So I finished several lo's today here are a few using the brand new Scenic Route Paper which can be purchased here. I also used some new Quickutz on the lo's as well which can be found at the same place. The font on the relaxation lo is Chocolate, one of the new 4 x 8 fonts.

and finally, some wonderful new Basic Grey which I get from here. I am going through some changes personally both mentally, physically and health wise so I made this lo to remind me why everything needs to change.

Okay, so I began working on some really exciting stuff for Quick Quotes today. WE are gearing up for our Private Reserve which is coming up at the end of September in Washington State. If you would love to go but cannot because it is too far away, where would you like one to be so you could attend? San Diego perhaps, or maybe Tulsa, or Valley Forge, Michigan maybe? Leave a comment and let me know where you would like to attend a Private Reserve.

August 06, 2008

What a great weekend I had in Valley Forge. The ladies (and three guys) who took our classes were AWESOME!! I didn't even hear one complaint about how far away my room was! When the convention ended, the QQ Crew headed to NYC so that we could attend a NY Yankees game and what a great time we had! I still haven't uploaded the photos from my camera just yet, but when I do, I will add more. We had a great time in NY even though we were only there for the day. We woke up and walked the Brooklyn Bridge which was an amazing experience and one that I highly recommend. We then went to Yankee stadium two hours before game time to try and get into Monument Park and they had already shut down the line. So we just went to our seats and took it all in. We had great seats and even ended up on the TV three different times (we were even on Sports Center, how fun?) We left the game at 4 pm because we all had flights from Philly that evening. On the way Home I started to read Breaking Dawn and finished it on Monday, GREAT BOOK, I absolutely love what she did with the final book. I am off this weekend, heading to South Carolina to visit the parents and drop the kids off for a visit. Tonight we went and saw Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants II and it was great, not sure which one I like better just yet, need to digest it a little longer. I am off tomorrow and hoping to get some scrapping time in since I came home from Valley Forge with some new Basic Grey and some new Scenic Route to play with, not to mention some new Quickutz stuff (which you can get here). Have a great night!

Please email me your shipping information and I will get your Irresistible paper packs in the mail (and maybe even some other goodies too wink wink nudge nudge)....

Second thing I need to add: Finish Line Scrapbooking GREAT CLASS! I love the concept, and I am anxious to try it on my own at home with some friends, I think it would be a great time. If you ever get a chance to take a class with Stacy Julian, I highly recommend it, she is inspirational and funny and it is a great time. I did get an 18 page six by six album done (almost) in two hours.

I also want to let you all know that the first day in Valley Forge was AWESOME! Loved the classes and the attendees, did a little bit of shopping on my own for me and got to spend some time with great friends. I met some lovely ladies today who are active on the CKMB and they pre ordered our shirts and added their own touch...Great job! (I did take photos to share, but I am having trouble uploading them) For those of you who have taken "All Over The Map" I wanted to post instructions on how to make or recreate the 3x3 mini album so here it goes....(again, tried to upload photos and I am having technical difficulties)

12 x 12 sheet of paper

1. Place the 12x12 piece of paper into the trimmer so that the end of the paper is at the three inch mark and make a cut in the paper measuring 9 inches.

2. Lift arm of trimmer and move paper over so that the end of the paper is at the nine inch mark and make a cut in the paper measuring 9 inches

3. Rotate paper 90 degrees and place end of paper so it lines up with the six inch mark and make a cut in the paper measuring 9 inches (these three cuts will create a paper yo yo if you will.)

4. Every three inches across create a score line. Create score lines at each spot where the 12x12 paper is still connected.

5. Accordion fold across the top row. At the end of each row the paper will be folded down and back. Accordion fold across the row. Repeat steps until the 12x12 paper is folded into a 3x3 square.

This may not make any sense without photos so I will repost this again once I can get the photos uploaded.